Do It For the Vine
by acrosseverystar
Summary: Tsubaki has a "fun" suggestion for Maka at a party, but maybe it's in her best interest to listen to the shadow weapon for once.


**A/N: This little one-shot is dedicated to ShadOwKat for their wonderful prompt "Do it for the vine" I enjoyed writing this little piece and would love to continue accepting prompts. Hope you like it!**

"Come on, Maka!"

"I said no, Tsubaki!"

"Pretty, pretty please!"

"The answer is still no."

The shadow weapon sighed gloomily, her usually cheerful demeanor in a full pout. One sad look from the girl was normally enough to get her friend to break, but this time was different.

"You're just saying this because you're drunk, Tsubaki," Maka scolded. Anytime Kid held a party, Maka became everyone's mom, telling them when they had had enough and it was past time to go home, and this night was no different. However, Maka had forgotten to account for how inappropriate her friend could be when she'd had a few too many cosmopolitans.

The fruity drinks may look and smell delicious, but after a couple shots of whiskey, the combination was deadly.

For Maka, that is.

"Am not," Tsubaki whined after her friend, stumbling through the halls after her. "I'm absolutely . . ."

"Sober?" Maka deadpanned, turning back toward her friend. She had been making her way back towards the center of the party after a quick trip to the ladies room when she had run into Tsubaki looking a little more than intoxicated. Being the mother that she was, she had quickly decided to steer her friend back to their group so that nothing would befall the girl.

Granted, anyone that tried to hurt Black Star's partner had another thing coming.

"No, that's not it," Tsubaki muttered under her breath. "I think I was going for 'Not drunk'" she nodded her head as if hoping the gesture would convince Maka of her clarity of mind. Which it didn't.

The blonde meister gripped the shadow weapon's wrist tightly as they entered the front room of Gallows manor where their friends were. She smiled when she caught sight of their host, who sent her an arch look when he saw the intoxicated state of their friend.

She dropped a giggling Tsubaki on the couch, handing her a glass of water from a nearby table and warning her to _stay right there. _

"How many did she have?" the shinigami asked his friend warily as she approached him.

"I lost track after eight," she responded with a rueful smile.

"Well at least she chose a symmetrical number." The chuckle that escaped Kid's mouth startled the blonde teen next to him. She rarely heard the serious boy laugh, but she had to admit that she enjoyed the sound of it. It was good to hear her usually grim friend show his more carefree side.

Maka rubbed her arms absently as she thought about what the shadow weapon had wanted her to do. She was not going to _that _anytime soon.

"Maka," Kid said, nudging his friend gently, "I think she's talking to you." He gestured to where Tsubaki sat on the couch, holding out her phone while frantically waving her arms at her bookish friend.

She swore under her breath as she headed off to meet Tsubaki.

"Pleeease Makaaa, Preetttty prettty please?"

"The answer is now hell no, Tsubaki."

"What answer is still no?" a deep voice drawled from behind her.

Maka blushed when she heard the voice of her weapon partner, Soul. She turned toward him, a nervous smile on her face. "Uhhh - n-nothing, Soul."

"Maka won't kiss me!" Tsubaki wailed, her hands flying in the air frantically. "I told her it would make a really funny vine, it being Maka's first kiss and all, but she said nooooooo!" The shadow weapon giggled softly. "Then again," she said slyly, "I bet there's someone else she'd rather kiss," she suggested with a look in Soul's direction.

"Ha, I'm not surprise little miss bookworm still hasn't kissed anyone, I doubt anyone would kiss her!" Soul said with a laugh.

Maka fumed at his words. "Soul! That's not fair! Just because I don't have boys throwing themselves at me, doesn't mean nobody wants to kiss me!"

The blonde meister stormed off in the direction of the library, ignoring the calls of her friends behind her. She brushed past all of her friends and acquaintances, tears forming around her eyes.

Hallways passed in a blur until she saw fewer and fewer people, stopping when she found an abandoned corridor. She stopped, pushing aside a door that led to a small study, one that clearly hadn't been used in a while.

The room was filled with old bookcases, arranged perfectly, each evenly spaced around a desk that sat in the exact center. A small grey couch sat against the wall under a large window. The moonlight cascaded through the room, sending an eerie glow on it.

Maka stumbled to the couch, curling up against an arm as the tears fell from her eyes.

_Why was he so heartless? He's my partner, _Maka thought with anguish, _shouldn't he at least understand my feelings?_

Soul had always loved to tease her for being a bookworm, for having no sex appeal, for all her educational ambitions, but she had always thought he cared about her deep down.

_I guess not, _she thought bitterly.

"Maka?! Maka, are you in here?"

The scythe wielder stiffened when she heard the voice of her weapon.

_Keep it together, just stay quiet and he won't know you're here and you can cry in peace._

"Maka, I know you're in here, I can sense your wavelength."

_Damn._

She sank lower into the seat when she heard the door open, the light from the hallway lighting the frame and leaving a silhouette of her partner.

"Are you crying? Man, that's not cool," he said, the grin on his face fading slowly.

Maka turned away sharply, biting back a bitter retort. "Go away, Soul, I don't want to talk to you right now, you stupid idiot."

He crossed the distance between them, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Come on now, Maka, you know I was just teasing, I didn't mean any of it."

"No I don't, Soul," she retorted. "You're always saying stuff like that, trying to make me feel bad about myself, and I'm really tired of it."

The tears no longer fell from her moss green eyes as indignation and stubbornness filled her.

With a sigh, Soul took a seat next to her. He leaned against the back of the couch, putting his hands on the back of his neck. "You know, for a bookworm, you can be pretty clueless."

Maka turned to look at him after this comment, her eyes searching his expression quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"Tch, this is so uncool," he whined slightly. "I don't think you're undesirable," he said quietly, his tone serious. "The reason you haven't kissed anyone yet isn't because boys don't like you, it's because . . ."

"Because what, Soul?" she asked, leaning toward her partner intently. She wasn't entirely sure where this was going, but she rarely heard her partner's voice drop to such a sincere, husky tone.

"It's because I like you."

There was a moment of silence Maka leaned forward, her arms wrapping around his neck. "Do you really mean that, Soul?" she asked hopefully. "I mean, I'm still mad at you, but I think I could overlook it this once," she said with a bright smile on her face.

Soul smiled down at his partner and best friend. "Yeah, I really do."

Their faces were only an inch apart when he leaned forward, tilting her chin up with his hand. He captured her lips softly, as she slid closer to him, a blush across both their faces.

Fortunately, moonlight was pretty good at hiding blushes.

Or so they thought.

Unfortunately for the weapon/meister pair, camera phones could still pick up the scene very clearly.

"I got it!" came Liz's voice from the doorway.

"Heh, took 'em long enough," Black Star said when he saw the pair's blush.

Soul and Maka both looked up, shock across their faces. "WHAT?" they cried in unison.

"How long was it?" Tsubaki chimed in, a bright smile covering her face.

"Exactly six seconds," Liz replied with a gleeful smirk. "I'm sooo vining this!"


End file.
